Ladder attachment

ABSTRACT

A ladder attachment adapted to be connected to the end of a ladder for the purpose of securing a ladder around a pole-like member. The ladder attachment includes a two part rod-like structure mounted and secured to the top rungs of the ladder with pole gripping members positioned on translationally extending flanges mounted on the rod-like structure, the pole gripping structures being directed or positioned on opposite directions and adapted to be positioned around a round pole to frictionally secure the attachment to a pole through pivoting action of the ladder.

iUnited States Patent Hunter July 29, 1975 [54] LADDER ATTACHMENT 3,318,415 5/1967 Christie 182/214 3,606,226 9/l97l Bell Inventor: Warren Battle Lake 3,780,829 12 1973 Wallingford 182/206 Minn. 56515 [22] Filed: Nov. 5, 1974 Primary ExaminerReinaldo P. Machado [21] AppL No: 520,990 Attorney, Agent, or FirmScl1roeder, Siegfried, Ryan & V1das [52] U.S. Cl. 182/206, 182/107, 1188220122194 ABSTRACT [5 l] Int. Cl. E06C 7/48 A ladder attachment adapted to be gonnected to the [58] of Search 182/206, 214, 93, 107, end of a ladder for the purpose of ecuring a ladder l82/ 8, 211 around a pole-like member. The ladder attachment includes a two part rod-like structure mounted and se- RefeTenceS Cited cured to the top rungs of the ladder with pole gripping UNITED STATES PATENTS members positioned on translationally extending 1,091,277 3/1914 Bloom 182/134 flanges mounted the rod-like Structure the P M42972 6/|9|5 wingerd 132/206 gripping structures being directed or positioned on op- 2,316,723 4/1943 Sorenson 182/206 posite directions and adapted to be positioned around 2,556,998 6/1951 Frazier 182/206 a round pole to frictionally secure the attachment to a 2,808,975 10/1957 Palmquist 182/206 pole through pivoting action of the ladder. 3,001,603 9/1961 Kraus 182/206 I 331541 1 4/1967 Fitzgerald 182/214 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 LADDER ATTACHMENT My invention relates to ladderattachments and more particularly to an improved ladder attachment for clamping the end of a ladder to an upright pole member to stablize the same without requiring an operator to leave the ground in the securing of the ladder attachment on the pole member.

Attachments for ladders used in the stabilization of the upper end of the ladder against a round or irregular surface are generally known and take a variety of forms. These have included pivoted notched support members attached to the upper end of a ladder, toothed belts attached to the upper end of a ladder, toothed plates secured to the upper end of a ladder and the like. In each instance, the ladder would'rest against a round surface such as a pole which would preferably have to be made of a wood or deformable material so that thetoothed or notchedsurface could bit into or frictionally engage the sameQThe stability of such ladders with the attachment is questioned since in 'none of this type of ladder attachment, is there anything provided to secure the attachment to or around'the pole member. It relies merely for stability on having the ladder rest on a level surface and be directly'stablized against the pole, permitting no off center movement of theoperator on the ladder for working conditions. Still other attachments have included clamping and belt structures secured to the upper end of a ladder which must be positioned around the pole or surface to which the ladder rests by the operator after the operator had climbed the ladder to the upper end of the same. This creates a problem in stability and danger in tipping of the ladder before the attachment is secured and requires the operator to leave the ground and take a posi tion on the ladder before the attachment is secured. Thus, all of the prior ladder attachments designed to rest against or secure a ladder and stablize the same against a round surface, such as a pole, at the upper end thereof, are devoid of complete stability or require the operator or user to leave a ground position and be exposed to the instability of climbing the ladder before attachment is secured and/or released.

In the present invention, an improved ladder attachment is provided which is secured to the top of a ladder and which may be positioned around a pole member or round surface and elevated to a particular height for ladder usage. Before the operator is required to'place any weight or climb the ladder, the attachment will be secured to the pole and prevents tipping of the ladder as the operator mounts the same.

Therefore, it is the principle object of this invention to provide an improved attachment which permits complete stability of the ladder while resting against a round' surface, such as a pole member, and which will be secured to the pole by an operator from a ground position. I I 7 Another object of this invention is to provide an improved ladder attachment which is adjustable for varying ladder angles and different size pole members.

A still further object of this'invention is to provide an improved ladder attachment which will rigidly secure the upper end of the ladder to a round surface, such as a pole member, which may be made either of a metal or ,wood material. I

A still further object of this invention is to provide a ladder attachment which is economical, sirn'ple to to plete safety. I

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the reading of the attached description together with the drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a side elevation view of the ladder with the improved attachment attached thereto and "securing the ladder to a pole'member;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a plan elevation view of the ladder attachment apart from the ladder; and,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ladder attachment of FIG. 3 taken along the lines 4-4 therein.

My improved ladder attachment is shown in the drawings of FIGS. 1 and 2 in connection with a single section ladder 10 having a pair of side or rail members 12 and a plurality of rungs or steps 15 positioned therebetween and suitably secured thereto. The ladder and rungs maybe made of a metal material although a ladtier of wood construction may also be employed. In the drawings, the'base of the ladder includes pivoted ad-' justable foot members 20 of the conventional type which stablize the base of the ladder on the surface against which the base of the ladder is placed. The improved ladder attachment is adapted to be used in connection with pole members, such as metal poles, or woodpoles, of varying diameter. Because of the inability among prior constructions to secure the end of the ladder against a poleor to stablize the same against a small diameter metal pole, such as an antenna pole, the drawings in FIGS. 1 and 2 show a suitable pole member 25 mounted on asurface 30 which may be the ground or any structure upon which the pole is mounted. Where the pole is of a small diameter and metal, such as tosupport an antenna, the installation of the antenna thereon requires that the installer climb to the top of the pole through some elevation means after the pole is erected to mount an antenna on the top of the same. The difficultiesencountered in resting a conventional ladder against a metal pole and securing the same to enable an operator to work at an elevation on the ladder resting against the pole is the principle feature which the present invention overcomes and accomplishes. It will be recognized that the pole members may be of varying diameters and the improvedladder attachment is adapted to stablize the ladder when resting againsta relatively small diameter pole such as 1 inch to 1% inches on up to 3 inches to 4 inches in diamete'rsWhere larger poles or wooden poles are to be encountered, the same ladder attachment with slightly larger pole gripping members, as will be hereinafter defined, may be employed in the same manner. The ladder attachment itself will be best seen in FIG. 3 apart from the ladder and indicated at 40. It includes a first rod-like member 42 which is preferably of a hollow square tubular construction of metal, such as aluminum, with which is associated a second rod-like member 44 having either a smaller cross-section sufficient to fit within the tubular rod member 41 or having a section capable of slidable motion therein. These members are suitably held together by conventional thumb screws 45 which is threaded through an aperture in the rod member 42 positioned within the end of the rod member '41. Together members 41 and 42 provide a generally elongated rod section in which the length of the same is adjustable and with the square crosssectional configuration to, prevent rotational movement therebetween. v

Positioned on the rod-like member 41 is a translationally positioned mounting flange, indicated generally at 50, which is generally H-shaped in form, having a center section welded to the rod-like member 41 and flanges 52 on either end of the center section and formed integral therewith and welded thereto. A pair of mounting apertures 54 are positioned in the flanges 52 and suitable U-shaped bolt members 55 extend therethrough with nut means (not shown) positioned on the end of the same.

The rod-like member 41 includes a first pole gripping flange 60 which is welded at one extremity to the rodlike member 41 and above the mounting flange 50and with a suitable cross brace 62 extending from the center of the mounting flange to the pole gripping flange 60. Positioned n the pole gripping flange 60 are a pair of pole gripping members 65 which are welded at an angle to one another and the extent of the pole gripping flange 60 to define a V-shaped notch. They extend normal to the extent of the pole gripping flange 60 and normal to the extent of the rod-like members 41 to which the flange is attached. As will be hereinafter noted, the length of the pole gripping members 65 may vary depending upon the size of the pole with which the same is to be utilized.

The rod-like member 42 which telescopically fits into the rod-like member 41 has a similar mounting flange 70 positioned thereon and welded thereto extending to one side of the rod-like member as does the pole gripping flange 60 and a reinforcing flange 71 welded thereto and to the rod-like member 42. A pair of pole gripping members 65 positioned on the mounting flange 70 and welded thereto forming a similar V- shaped notch. The pole gripping members have on each of the pole gripping flanges the same dimensions and angles relative to the pole gripping flanges 60, 70, and the rod elongated section rod-like member 42 is slidable within the hollow tubular rod-like member 41 and both have the same cross section, preferably square, so that the parts may not rotate relative to one another but can be adjusted longitudinally with respect to one another. With such adjustment and the clamping of the rod-like members 41 and 42, together through the thumb screws 45, the spacing between the pole gripping flanges 60 and 70 and the pole gripping members 65 thereon may be adjusted for varying sized poles and the angles to which the ladder will be positioned relative to the pole member to which it is to be secured.

As will be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ladder attachment is attached at the pole mounting flange 58 underneath the top rung of the ladder and located centrally on the top rung thereof so that the pole gripping members 65 will be generally located in the center of the ladder substantially equidistant between the rails or side 12. As will be seen in FIG. 3, the mounting flanges will be slightly offset so that the mounting flange may be secured to the ladder steps in such a manner as to locate the center of the pole gripping members generally in line with the center .of the ladder rung. The mounting flange 50 is attached to the top rung by positioning the U-shaped bolt members 55 around the top rung and having the same encircle the round rungs or steps with the U-shaped extremities of the bolt members extending back through the apertures 54 in the mounting flanges 52, and with suitable nut means (not shown) tightened to rigidly secure the U-shaped bolt members around the round rung of the ladder and clamping it against the mounting flange. It will be noted that the extremity of the rod-like member 4] beyond and beneath the mounting flange extends a distance greater than the distance between the rungs of the ladder so that the rod-like member 41 will extend under the top of the next adjacent rung to prevent rotation of the mounting flange and hence, ladder attachment on the top rung of the ladder.

With the installation of the ladder attachment on the top of the ladder, the same may be brought into proximity with an upstanding pole member, such as the metal pole 25 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The ladder will be raised so the upper end of the same will be approaching its desired height and with the pole gripping members being positioned on either side of the pole 25. By positioning the ladder attachment around the pole at the lower elevation than the desired ladder height, the pole gripping flanges will be allowed to slide on either side of the pole with the pole being located centrally in the V-shaped notch defined by the pole gripping member on the pole gripping flanges 60, 70. Depending upon the diameter of the pole, the spacing of the flanges may be adjusted or increased for larger diameter poles, and as heretofore noted, the gripping members 65 may be increased in length to accommodate a larger diameter pole. With the pole gripping members which are directed in opposite directions with respect to the rod-like structure 41, 42, positioned around the pole, the top end of the ladder may be slidably moved up the pole to substantially the height in which the ladder is to be inclined to the pole. Before the ladder is allowed to engage into the ground, it is raised to a slightly higher height and pivoted out from the pole so that the foot members 20 will be free of the same as shown in phantom in FIG. 1. The ladder attachment will hold the ladder itself away from the pole. The operator may then place his weight on the bottom rung of the ladder and pivot the same so that the ground end approaches the base of the ladder until it contacts the ground. This will provide a binding action on the pole through the pole gripping member 65 mounted on the pole gripping flanges 60, 70, to rigidly bind the metal pole gripping members 65 on the surface of the pole so that the ladder attachment will not slide or rotate relative thereto. The pole gripping members are preferably of a hardened steel and a slight deformation in the rod-like structure will be provided to positively grip the pole securing the upper end of the ladder to the pole before the operator is required to actually attempt to climb the ladder. This will increase the stability of the attachment to the pole and greatly increase the safety in the operation of the ladder enabling an operator to climb the ladder to the top thereof and work at an elevation at or near the top of the ladder to install or do any maintenance on a structure mounted on the pole at the upper end thereof. With this improved ladder attachment, it is possible for an operator after installation of the ladder attachment of the ladder, to bring the same in proximity with the pole and raise the upper end of the ladder with an attachment thereonso that the gripping members are positioned around the pole and slidable relative thereto as the ladder is raised so that the ladder may be raised to a proper angle and elevation with respect to the pole.

The improved ladder attachment does not require an operator to leave the ground in the installation of the ladder attachment on the pole and securing the ladder thereto. This increases significantly the ease and safety in operation of the same.

Whenever it is desired to remove the ladder, the base is merely pivoted outward from the ground and the upper end of the ladder with the attachment thereon is allowed when released from its gripping position to slide down the pole until such a position where the ladder with the attachment thereon may be moved translationally with respect to the pole freed therefrom. The improved ladder attachment is therefore easy and safe to use.

In consideration of this invention, it should be remembered that the present disclosure is illustrative only and the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A ladder attachment for clamping the end of a ladder to an upright pole member, the ladder having a pair of side rail members and a plurality of spaced steps extending therebetween comprising, a rod-like member having a transversely extending mounting flange connected to and extending to either side of said rod-like member, connection means mounted on the ends of the mounting flange and adapted to encircle and secure the mounting flange to the top step of a ladder, said rod having one extremity extending beyond the mounting flange and beyond the next adjacent step of the ladder, a pair of spaced flange members positioned on the rodlike member and secured thereto remote from the mounting flange and beyond the end of the ladder, said flange members extending to one side of the rod-like member, pole gripping means mounted on the spaced flange members and extending perpendicular to the rod and in opposite directions, said pole gripping means respectively being adapted to be positioned on opposite sides of the pole member to which the attachment is to secure the ladder with a pole gripping means binding on the pole member. I

2. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the pole gripping members are V-shaped in form.

3. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the connecting means mounted on the mounting flange include apertures in the ends of the same and U-shaped bolt members positioned therethrough and adapted to be positioned around the step and secured on through the nut means.

4. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the extremity of the rod member mounting the transversely extending mounting plate includes an adjustable section for adjusting the position between the spaced flange members.

5. The ladder attachment of claim 4 in which the rodlike member includes a second rod-like member positioned in telescopic relationship therewith and adjustable relative thereto with the rodlike member and the extremity of the second rod-like member mounting respectively one of the pairs of the spaced flange members.

6. The ladder attachment of claim I in which the spacing between the flange members and the dimensions of the pole gripping means thereon are such as to permit the pair of flange members with the pole gripping means to be positioned on either side of the upright pole member to which the ladder is to be attached and to securely grip the pole member when said ladder is at an angle thereto.

7. A ladder attachment for clamping one end of the ladder to an upright pole member in which the ladder has a pair of side rail members and plurality of steps positioned therebetween comprising, a rod-like means having a first and second hollow rod-like member fitted together in telescopic relationship, a transversely extending mounting flange connected to the first of said hollow rod-like members and extending to each side of the same, step connection means mounted on the ends of said flange and adapted to encircle to the step to secure the flange to a step, said first rod-like means extending beyond the mounting flange a distance greater than the distance between a pair of steps on said ladder, a pair of pole gripping flange members, one of said pole gripping flange members being attached to said first hollow rod-like member adjacent said mounting flange, a second pole gripping flange member mounted at the end of the second hollow rod-like member, pole gripping means mounted on said pole gripping flanges and extending outwardly therefrom in opposite directions and in parallism to one another, and means for coupling said first and second tubular members in telescopic relationship and permitting adjustment spacing between the flange members thereon such that the pole gripping means will be positioned on either side of the pole member when the ladder attachment is attached to a ladder and the ladder is positioned at an angle to the pole member. 

1. A ladder attachment for clamping the end of a ladder to an upright pole member, the ladder having a pair of side rail members and a plurality of spaced steps extending therebetween comprising, a rod-like member having a transversely extending mounting flange connected to and extending to either side of said rod-like member, connection means mounted on the ends of the mounting flange and adapted to encircle and secure the mounting flange to the top step of a ladder, said rod having one extremity extending beyond the mounting flange and beyond the next adjacent step of the ladder, a pair of spaced flange members positioned on the rod-like member and secured thereto remote from the mounting flange and beyond the end of the ladder, said flange members extending to one side of the rod-like member, pole gripping means mounted on the spaced flange members and extending perpendicular to the rod and in opposite directions, said pole gripping means respectively being adapted to be positioned on opposite sides of the pole member to which the attachment is to secure the ladder with a pole gripping means binding on the pole member.
 2. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the pole gripping members are V-shaped in form.
 3. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the connecting means mounted on the mounting flange include apertures in the ends of the same and U-shaped bolt members positioned therethrough and adapted to be positioned around the step and secured on through the nut means.
 4. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the extremity of the rod member mounting the transversely extending mounting plate includes an adjustable section for adjusting the position between the spaced flange members.
 5. The ladder attachment of claim 4 in which the rod-like member includes a second rod-like member positioned in telescopic relationship therewith and adjustable relative thereto with the rod-like member and the extremity of the second rod-like member mounting respectively one of the pairs of the spaced flange members.
 6. The ladder attachment of claim 1 in which the spacing between the flange members and the dimensions of the pole gripping means thereon are such as to permit the pair of flange members with the pole gripping means to be positioned on either side of the upright pole member to which the ladder is to be attached and to securely grip the pole member when said ladder is at an angle thereto.
 7. A ladder attachment for clamping one end of the ladder to an upright pole member in which the ladder has a pair of side rail members and plurality of steps positioned therebetween comprising, a rod-like means having a first and second hollow rod-like member fitted together in telescopic relationship, a transversely extending mounting flange connected to the first of said hollow rod-like members and extending to each side of the same, step connection means mounted on the ends of said flange and adapted to encircle to the step to secure the flange to a step, said first rod-like means extending beyond the mounting flange a distance greater than the distance between a pair of steps on said ladder, a pair of pole gripping flange members, one of said pole gripping flange members being attached to said first hollow rod-like member adjacent said mounting flange, a second pole gripping flange member mounted at the end of the second hollow rod-like member, pole gripping means mounted on said pole gripping flanges and extending outwardly therefrom in opposite directions and in parallism to one another, and means for coupling said first and second tubular members in telescopic relationship and permitting adjustment spacing between the flange members thereon such that the pole gripping means will be positioned on either side of the pole member when the ladder attachment is attached to a ladder and the ladder is positioned at an angle to the pole member. 